The best national champion teams of the 2000s

Basketball is a game about makes and misses, and in 2008, Memphis missed when they needed to make, while Kansas made when we all thought they’d miss. When Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose went 1-of-5 from the free-throw line down the stretch, it left the door open for Mario Chalmers to hit game-tying 3-pointer – after the Jayhawks had only made two 3s at that point – with 2.1 seconds left sending the game into overtime. Kansas pulled away in the extra period winning by seven, making them one of the most improbable champs of the decade, while Memphis’ fans are still haunted by the 38-2 team that couldn’t seal the deal.

It wasn’t always pretty, but it was always gritty. The only reason Tom Izzo has a ring and the Big Ten has won a title in the last 21 years is because some dudes from Flint, Mich., decided to play ball in East Lansing, Mich. With Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, and Charlie Bell all hailing from Flint and playing together since elementary, it was the perfect formula to beat a loaded Florida team that featured four future NBA players and a slew of McDonald’s All-Americans.

Back when players still had the option of skipping school or enrolling in college, three freshmen showed up and showed out in the ‘03 title game for the Cuse, giving Jim Boeheim his only national championship ring. The combination of Carmelo Anthony, Gerry McNamara, and Billy Edelin scored 50 of the Orange’s 81 points in their three-point win over Kansas. Melo was the game’s leading scorer as he introduced himself to the world.

After blowing a 20-plus point halftime lead to Duke in the Final Four the year before, Maryland was hellbent on winning a title, as the Terps cruised to a 32-4 record that season. Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, Byron Mouton, Chris Wilcox, and Lonny Baxter got Gary Williams a ring, as Maryland knocked off Indiana in the finals. It’s the last time either program has made it to the Elite Eight or further.

Roy Williams’ second championship team in Chapel Hill was led by Tyler Hansbrough. It was so good that three-time NBA champion Danny Green was the fourth option on that team. The Tar Heels destroyed Michigan State in the title game that year by 17, and it wasn’t even that close. North Carolina won that title in Detroit while bullying the home state Spartans along the way.

With the same starting lineup of Tauren Green, Lee Humphrey, Corey Brewer, Al Horford, and Joakim Noah returning from their 2006 championship team, Billy Donovan’s squad followed the same blueprint. The 17 and 11-game winnings streaks the 2006 team went on were copycatted by the 2007 team that won 17 and 10-straight in two different streaks that season. The Gators are the last team to go back-to-back.

After starting the season on a 17-game winning streak, Florida finished the season with a streak of 11 consecutive wins. They won by an average margin of 16 points per game in the tournament, and oddly enough, scored 73 points in each of their last two games of the season, defeating George Mason 73-58 in the Final Four and routing UCLA 73-57 in the title game.

Five years after Jim Calhoun beat Duke to give UConn its first national title, he won his second by taking down the Blue Devils again in the 2004 Final Four. The Huskies were deep that season and were led by Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, and talented freshman in Charlie Villanueva. After stumbling to Syracuse in their regular-season finale, UConn won nine straight to collect their second title in five years.

The Tar Heels were so good that year that the most talented player on the roster was a freshman named Marvin Williams, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, and he didn’t even start. Williams is still the highest draft pick Carolina has produced this century since then, and he came off the bench. The combination of Raymond Felton, Jawad Williams, Sean May, Rashad McCants, and the frosh sensation gave Roy Williams his first championship at Carolina in only his second season at his alma mater.

That Duke team was packed with guys who could get buckets, as they were the second-highest scoring team in the nation (90.7) that season. With a starting lineup that included future No. 2 (Jay Williams), No. 3 (Mike Dunleavy Jr.), and No. 6 (Shane Battier) overall picks in the NBA Draft, including a two-time All-Star and gold medal Olympian in Carlos Boozer, the Blue Devils were loaded.